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tabs

A tabbed interface, or simply a tab, is a graphical control element one can use to contain multiple panels or documents onto a single window for users to access. Because of this, it is perfect for single page web pages and applications. It gives users a neat and organized UI and makes the navigation process much easier. So if you own a text-heavy site, or simply a content-packed website, then CSS tabs are the easiest way to appeal more to your users.

Keeping that in mind, we have listed the best possible options for our users today. Hand-picked and listed according to the styling elements and best design trends, we hope this list helps you get the perfect start. We have included options for everything from animated to simple, and complex to minimal.

Tabbed Content Section

tabbed-content-section

The top of our list is this premium-like CSS tab design by Allen Brady. Simple, elegant and efficient, this design is great for any type of websites, whether professional or personal. It is complete with various creative icons animated to work as tabs. Each feature a designated area for contents and placeholder for media files. Using simple CSS, the creator has also added an efficient hover effect. And the best part here is that it does not rely on any JS, which means the overall template is pretty easy to understand and replicate.

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Material Tabs & Pages

material-css-tab-design

Following a more professional approach with the design, this next variation is created with all the small details in mind. However, unlike the previous option, this has its roots on the JS implementation alongside the CSS and HTML. It starts with a simple CSS tab with icons and text to depict each selection. When clicked on anyone, the contents are displayed under the material based card below the tab. For an even more engaging appeal, you will find vibrant color schemes all changing with the tabs. With the use of simple CSS, there are various animations and transitions implemented throughout. These are fully responsive and easily adjusted according to the device screens.

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CSS Tab Selection

css-tab-design

Depicting a folder-like structure, this is yet another simple, minimal pure CSS tab design we have next in line. Based on just CSS and HTML for the overall structure and the animations implemented, we can say, it is quite easy to understand and replicate. The tabs are designed to look like folder tabs and just like with any folder, it switches the contents according to the tab selected. You will also find a simple hover effect over the numeric icons on the tab for that extra detailing. It also seems responsive, meaning the design automatically adjusts to all the device frames with ease.

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Pure CSS Tabs

pure-css-tab

Let’s start off with something simple, elegant and clean. This Pure CSS tab is visually pleasing and works perfectly to display multiple posts or contents in a single screen. Calming purple and white color schemes are pretty appealing to look at. And using just the simple HTML and CSS structure to get the result is impressive. Like most of the tab examples, this also uses the horizontal view, showcasing the option to toggle between. A simple transition of the color shading uses the radio input. This means a darker shade of purple is used to highlight which section is clicked on. Creator of this design has kept it simple, however, below the demo, you can also find a link to the 3D version that uses JS.

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Animated CSS Tabs

animated css-tab

This animated CSS tabs is the perfect example of the 3D effect and a more advanced option to choose. Although animated subtly, this sure makes for an impressive result. And the best part is that all the codes are based on CSS and HTML. This ensures an easier implementation and understanding of the structure. Green and white upon a navy blue background works amazingly. When hovering over each of the tabs, it extends in a smooth animation, which changes the color scheme to highlight the selection.

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Just Another CSS Tab

just another css-tab

This is a more creative approach to a CSS tab as it is complete with animation, effects and innovative design structure. While most tabs are designed as a simple navigational element, this leans more towards a unique and engaging element for your users to enjoy. Instead of the traditional fonts or texts used on the tabs, the creator has replaced them with flat icons. Each is also designed to execute a stunning hover and click effect transitioning the highlight to the selected tab. Even the contents appear in and out of view using the zoom-in and-out effect. Overall quite interesting, access their full structure following the link below.

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Responsive CSS Tabs & Accordions

responsive accordion and css-tab

Now just because it is a tab doesn’t necessarily need to be horizontal. This responsive CSS tabs and accordion is the perfect example. It is versatile enough to be used as an accordion or a tab, but implementing it onto your site is also pretty easy. The simple blue and white structure is clean and professional looking. When clicked on, the tab expands vertically to showcase the content inside. Another added detail is the radio-button style effect, which means that only one tab can be opened at a time. All of the aspects are kept pretty minimal which also leaves the users to add in their own custom touch if they prefer.

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Simple jQuery-CSS Tabbed Panel

Simple jQuery-CSS Tabbed Panel

Now coming back to a more practical and navigational purpose based design, this simple jQuery CSS tabbed panel is another great example. The design is pretty straightforward, working to display the contents organizationally. Each of the tabs is determined with the tabbed panel on the top. These tabs when hovered over changes the color from white to blue achieved with simple CSS. However, the transition of the content inside the tabbed panel is determined with the help of JS. This ensures a smoother and clean transition when fading in and out of view. The content inside the panel is also extremely versatile and holds placements for all including textual content, images, and even links.

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Pure CSS Tabs with indicator

Pure CSS Tabs with indicator

As the name suggests, this Pure CSS Tabs with indicator is based purely on HTML and CSS. It includes a material design-based card that works as the base of the tab. Each tab is also represented with a creative icon and the title. Simple with the design, the animations are still quite impressive. Using simple CSS, the creator has managed to get a smooth content transition with each click. When selected the tab title also changes the color and is underlined to highlight the selection. The coding structure is open to access, just follow the link below.

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CSS Tabs Revisited

CSS Tabs Revisited

A more darker version for those of you who are looking for it, this stunning example is CSS Tabs Revisited by Eric Sadowski. The design is pretty impressive considering that it is based purely on HTML and CSS. Starting off with a plain background, the creator has elevated it with all of the stylings. On a darker shade of box, the tab is represented with a ribbon-like structure atop it all. Each of the tabs also has text and a creative icon to represent each section. Now when clicked on the content inside uses slide up and slide down effect to get in and out of view. The tabs also change their color from gray to orange to display the selected item. Add in any type of content, whether you want to add in texts, links, or even images.

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Simple CSS Tabs with Shadow

CSS Tab with shadows

A minimal and material design based CSS tab design is perfectly minimal yet flexible. The design because of its simplicity makes for the ideal base that adjusts to any type of theme or website. Adding shadows to create an almost 3D feel to it, the pure white color scheme also adds to the paper-like feel. The content area also adjusts the length and the width according to the content it holds inside. Another great thing about this design is that it is completely responsive and automatically adjusts to every design screen size with ease. When hovered over any of the tabs the texts also comes into view executing a smooth fade-in effect. As it is based purely on CSS without any additional JS, the whole structure is pretty easy to implement.

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CSS Tabs Menu

CSS Tab menus

Now, for a more professional and purpose focused design, this CSS tab is complete with everything you might need. Everything is well taken care of, from the tab design to the content holders to the smooth and clean animations and transitions. And even though the demo is just a dummy, it is ready to go Live with just a few tweaks here and there. The tabs using CSS effects highlight it when hovered over and completely changes color schemes when clicked on. As you can see here, adding pretty much anything is possible whether you want texts, links, images and even forms and CTA buttons. The result is pretty incredible and the best part of it all is that it is based entirely off of CSS and HTML.

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Folder Tabs

css-tab by massimo

A more creative approach towards a CSS tab design, this style is based on the file and folders stacked together. The creator using a plain black background has made the colorful file based tabs pop out more. Event the concept of revealing the content inside each tab is pretty unique. Unlike the traditional vertical design, this leans more towards the horizontal view. When clicked on any tabs, it slides left or right to reveal the content inside. And if you are looking to add in an engaging element on your site for your users to enjoy then this is the ideal choice.

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Pure CSS Tab Navigation

Pure CSS Tab Navigation

This pure CSS tab design by Izzy Skye is another innovative approach with a traditional design. Using the classic toggle button the tab displays the content inside on the animated box below. When clicked on either of the tab, the content alongside the footer text slides in and out of view. And it is pretty impressive considering that mo excess JS codes are used.

The contentbox also acts as a placeholder for image or title and links. When hovered over, it reveals the smooth transition while displaying the animated button, leading to the full view of the content. This design is perfect to add easier navigation for users to use. You can also implement this on text-heavy sites or blogs to categorize it. The color scheme with black, pink and white is also flexible and versatile.

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Tabs Widget

Tabs Widget

Another one on our list of CSS tabs is this clean and professional looking design by Sitepoint. While the beauty here is focused on simplicity, the animations and the transitions are great. A simple white background with the navy blue tab section works amazingly together. It starts out as a simple navigational tabs which when clicked on reveals the content inside. The creators have also added the radio-button like effect which ensures that only one of the tab can be opened at a time. The selected tab is also highlighted with the colro transition to a lighter shade. Another additional detail here is also the responsiveness it features. Automatically adjusting to any device screen size, this in no way affects your site’s responsiveness.

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CSS Tab by Chen Hui Jing

CSS Tab by Chen Hui Jing

This Pure CSS Tab design by Chen Hui Jing is responsive, clean with looks and innovative. The tab sections used here use creative icons instead of texts to start with. While in this case, it is fruits, you can pretty much replace it with anything you like. The top of the tabs is also differentiated using different color schemes. But that’s pretty much all the color you get. Because all of the other sections are monochrome and depict more of a professional and neat look. Using simple CSS, the tabs also execute a hover effect transitioning the color scheme to a darker color.

This design is practical and purpose-focused, leaving tons of area to add in the contents. Because of the simple structure and clean coding, you can get the same result on your site with minimal effort. Simply follow the link below to get the full access.

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Tab Interface with 3D Cube

Tab Interface with 3D Cube

If material designs and 2D just don’t cut it out for you, then this 3D design is surely right up your alley. A design by Vavik, is a more complex and advanced design for a CSS tab. But be assured that the whole structure is based entirely on CSS and HTML. The tabs are represented by various cubes or squares differentiated with the color schemes and the texts. However, the twist here is that the designer leveled it up instead of simple transitions and effects with a 3D flip! A full view of the content inside are displayed on the right-hand side on a larger square. So when users click on any specific tab, the displayed square does an entire back or front flip to display the content. Pretty amazing that something like a tab can also be animated in this manner right?

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Clickable CSS Tabs

Clickable CSS Tabs

With a more monochrome black-and-white feel, this is a simple CSS based tab design by Ondřej Bárta. The overall style and the color schemes make for a pretty plain yet attractive result. The tabs work as just how any traditional tab would work. Clicking on one reveals the content inside. For subtle detail, the creator has added the CSS hover effect. When hovered over each of the tabs the shade turns a shade darker and an arrow appears. Selecting the tab also changes the color to white entirely to match the detail section. Simple to achieve, implement and understand, you can also view the complete code snippet through the link below.

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Materialize CSS Tab Menu

Materialize CSS Tab Menu

Taking inspiration from the classic Google Material design, this is a result by Alex. Although it is simple to look at, we love the details here. The tabs on full view look the most professional out of all the options we have listed out today. Complete will all of the contents inside also makes for an appealing look. Blue colored tabs alongside the hover and click effect is extra engaging. When hovered over, the tabs are highlighted with the color transition as well as the underline which slides under the texts when clicked on. However, this example is a combination of both CSS and JS.

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Recipe Card with CSS Tabs

Recipe Card with CSS Tabs

If you own a food blog or recipe-related website, this design is designed especially for the niche. Perfect to be used for tabbed contents, especially with food recipes, you can even use this for anything you want. The whole structure is quite versatile so to say. There are even two different variations that the creator has come up with. The first example uses the button expansion effect when clicked on adjusting to the revealed content. The second option showcases a different transition where the tabs stay static while the content is changed with each click.

Each of these, however, executes an excellent color transition hover effect. The color schemes with green and white also makes the whole design pop-up more.

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Tabby Tabs

tabby css-tab

Now for a more cinematic and theatrical feel, this CSS tab example uses animation and effects to get this stunning result. With a plain gray background, the purple tabbed section appeals to the eyes. And just with traditional tabs, this also reveals the content when clicked on. The focal point here, however, is the transition of contents when changing from one to the other. When revealing each content, CSS is used to get the flex and overflow effect. Responsive and great for content of any type, you can easily add in images, textual details and more to your preference.

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CSS3 Tabs by Sorax

CSS3 Tabs by Sorax

Using a patterned background and an engaging way to reveal the content on each tab, the creator of this example has ended up with a fabulous result. It uses a blue and white color scheme to keep the clean and professional look. The tabs and the texts are pretty simple, but the elevating factor is the effects on the tabbed box and the texts. Using CSS3 animations, the content box appears almost realistically when clicked on any of the tabs. Another small detail is the color transition from black to blue when hovering over the cursor.

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Pure CSS3 Tabbed Content

Pure CSS3 Tabbed Content

Yet again, making use of the vertical design structure, this is a minimal and monochrome design by Colin Hall. The tabs appear horizontally like a sidebar on a site. When clicked on, it reveals the content on the large area covered on the right. The color palette is what makes this for a clean and professional design. To make things more interesting, the designer has used creative icons instead of plain texts The design is also responsive which means that it adjusts to every device screen size with ease. The color transition here from black to white and white to black on hover adds that extra creative touch.

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jQuery and CSS Tabbed file folder

jQuery and CSS Tabbed file folder

We have mentioned a similar design above, but this folder based CSS tab design is a more plain and simpler version. A design by Ian Glaude, the use of the color and the shadow play makes it for a realistic depiction. It works just as how any tab would revealing the content when clicked on. The creative touch here, however, is the smooth shadow play and the 3D pop-up like effect. Keeping in mind that this design relies on JS as well, this might considerably be a bit harder to achieve compared to the ones listed here. However, you get access to all of their structure to better understand. Just follow the link down below.

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Tabs

tabs

Last but not least, this is another one in the blue and white colored CSS tab design. Based purely on CSS and HTML, this design is also completely responsive. Depending on the screen size, it transforms to a horizontal or vertical view of the tabs. Playing with the opacity of each tab, the hover effect is also quite stunning. Another engaging animation is used on the content section which contracts and expands when changing from one to the other. The pale blue and white also works great together, giving it a more calm and clean touch. And because it based on CSS and HTML, implementing this design onto your site is also easier.

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UI/UX Example: Tab Switch Animation

tab switach animation

This is basically a css tab design that is certainly unique and out of the box. Creative and engaging, this particular example makes use of toggle based design. It relies on HTML, CSS, and JS code structure to get a smooth running interface. While the demo showcases only 2 tabs with options inside, the structure is flexible enough for you to add in more. Sliding into view, left and right according to the switch, this tab is a fantastic way to add in that animated element onto your site. A pretty much straight-forward design to get started with, you can replicate the whole structure onto your site with ease. Follow the link below to get a closer look at the lines of codes used and get a better understanding on how the end result came to be.

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CSS Tabs

css tabs by julir parks

If you want something more sophisticated and out of the box, this vertical CSS tab design is just for you. Created with the code structure using CSS, HTML as well as JS, this whole design is unique overall visually pleasing. It features a horizontal tab instead of the traditional vertical design with all of the tabs represented by icons. The contents inside is designed to be displayed on the card based design and each fades in and out of display when the tabs are clicked on. Another small detail is the color transition effect on the icons of each tab when hovered over.

The gradient background is one that surely is eye-catching and the overall design is aimed to be versatile enough to match any websites. An animated call-to-action button is also there that you can make use of. It transforms its color and position on hover for a more engaging appeal. Created by Julie Park, this CSS tab design deserves a mention on our list. 

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CSS Tab Bars

breadcrumbs and tabs

With more and more websites depending on creative ways to represent your menus and tabs, this certainly stands out. With a design similar to a filing folder, everything about this particular example is coded with great detailing. The creator has taken a simple concept and executed it with great effort. It starts as a single card with the number of the tab and the contents inside. There is a button on the bottom left that allows for the next of the tab to show.

Each tab follows the next while overlapping the one displaying until the last tab.The same effect applies when you click on the previous tabs. The contents slide in and out of display on click. Pretty simple by the look of it, the codes might be a bit sophisticated. So why not follow the link below to get a better and closer look at the code structure and a live preview? 

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Elastic Tabs

elastic tabs

If you prefer to keep the design simple yet engaging using creative animations and effects, this elastic tab is one for you. The creator Nenad Kaevik has used a simple menu design and elevated it as a whole with just a few creative implementations of animations. It features a minimal header menu with the title and icon representing each tab. The selection is highlighted when clicked on and displays a color transition including the icon and the text.

Depending on the selection, the selector is animated to slide left and right into position while depicting a more elastic like movement. The whole structure is also designed to be responsive and effortlessly adjusts to all the device screen with extreme ease. Every element is highly customizable which means that you can easily personalize the colors and the fonts and even the icons used to get exactly what you want.

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Pure CSS Tabs With A Hint Of JS

pure css tab

This pretty straightforward design is the proper definition of CSS tab design. It features a pretty purpose-oriented interface that covers everything one expects from a tab design. It features a simplistic layout with the contents displayed under the functional tab menu. The color palette is also pretty eye-catching. When clicked on any specific tabs, the contents inside fade in and out of display with the help of CSS and JS codes. This template is customizable, meaning all elements can be changed according to their preference. Overall a pretty distinct and simple way to add in tabs or menus onto your site, the link below provides full access to the code structures and live previews. 

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Scroll For Tabs

scroll-for-tabs

Another one incorporating JS, CSS and HTML codes to get this outstanding result is Scroll for tabs by Praveen Kumar Gorakala. Responsive, attractive and vibrant with the color palette, this sure is designed with the visual aspect as the primary focus. It includes a simple setting with a card based design with the tabs placed above as the header menu. With a fixed length of the menu bar, the titles also slides in and out of view on scroll. Even the contents change when scrolled on. The tabs also execute a hover effect that makes it even more appealing. Another great detail is that the box of contents also adjusts its size according to the contents expanding and contracting accordingly. The whole structure is responsive and fully adjusts to every device screen size with ease. 

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CSS Tabs

animated transition tabs

The last one we have for you is another awesome way to integrate CSS tabs onto your site. It works as a toggle switch to switch between the contents from one tab to the next using simple but attractive animations. Here the demo showcases two tabs with different contents which slides into the device screen left and right to exit or come into display. The tabs as a whole, follows a pretty minimal style. And it showcases the selection with a simple animated underline below the title. The good thing of course is that the whole structure makes use of just CSS and HTML codes which is not as complicated and sophisticated as it may look like. Just go ahead and follow the link below to get a full view of all the elements used and to preview the demo. 

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Modern CSS Tab Design

modern-tabs

Now, this is a more custom and easy to work with design of CSS tabs by Carlos Valereano. It features three different designs that differs with the shape and colors of the tabs. Simple and straightforward, it is a user-friendly canvas you can use to get a head start. It features simple hover and click effect that showcases the selection of the tabs as well. Here, you will also find multicolored and colored version of the tabs.

For variations, you can choose from a range of options available there. Customize it however, you prefer and easily add that extra touch of creativity. Find the in-depth details of all the code structures showcased above through the link below.

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CSS Tabs For NDC

CSS-tabs-NDC

This is a more classic design of CSS tabs designed as a simple file like format. Designed with a professional sense of styling, it features amazing responsiveness as well. The tabs are pretty easily customizable and can display a range of textual contents with ease. When clicked on any tabs, it slides down to display the contents and uses smooth transitions when switched from one to the other. It is quite basic with the design, however the whole structure is clean and looks advanced. Plenty of HTML, CSS and JS elements are implemented to ensure a smooth running result.

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Basic Tabs

basic-tabs

Lastly, we end our list of the best CSS tabs with this basic tab design based purely on HTML and CSS. Simple with the structure it showcases 3 tabs represented by the tag atop the table. When clicked on any of these, it highlights the selection with a simple hover and click effect. Both featuring smooth color change, it slides the contents into view when clicked on. Simple enough with the purposes, it is also easy to customize and add your own custom touch. Get the fulll code-snippet with the link down below and get a head start on any of your future web-design projects.

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Published by Samia Rai

Avid Reader, Aspiring Writer~

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